Management Information Sheet

Executive summary:

For a number of reasons which have been well rehearsed by many and well publicised, there is an urgent need to affect a radical transformation for SEND children and their families across Norfolk. This requires considerable capital and capacity investment to transform both the physical landscape in terms of local accessibility to the right provision, quality and breadth of specialist services, as well transforming the effectiveness, timeliness and appropriateness of our assessment.

As a result, the council has agreed to invest significantly in this transformation and working with the education sector and other stakeholders, including children and families, we are embarking on a major SEND transformation programme.

Headteachers and Governors have and will continue to receive briefings and updates about the programme as part of the Headteacher Association and Governor termly meetings. In addition, a range of workshops, and consultations will begin this term to co-create a new landscape. We do not start with a blank canvas and we will build on best practice across the county, prioritise need as identified through our SEND sufficiency strategy and ensure the best value for money for this investment.

We will communicate the developments and the opportunity to be involved on a routine basis. This MI sheet is the first communication which outlines the high-level scope of the programme. Attached are the two committee reports which went to Children's Services Committee last year leading to the agreement for this investment.

Children and young people with SEND prioritised by Norfolk County Council

1. The Norfolk Area SEND Leadership Board have agreed an Area SEND Strategy

It outlines the strategic aims and key priorities for ensuring that the challenges facing Norfolk with SEND can be addressed, in addition to recognising and celebrating the good work in place for SEND across the county.

The Area SEND Strategy sets out:

• A new vision for SEND in Norfolk
• An evaluation of our SEND provision in Norfolk
• A summary of what we must continue doing for SEND in Norfolk
• An action plan which prioritises the changes that will improve SEND in Norfolk
• How we are meeting the requirements of the SEND reforms as set out in the Children and Families Act 2014

The Area SEND Strategy has been co-produced through the Norfolk Area SEND Leadership Board's key partners:

• Norfolk County Council
• NHS - Great Yarmouth and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group
• Family Voice Norfolk
• Norfolk Governor Network
• Mainstream, Special School and Further Education College Leaders

The vision, principles and priorities will be available on our Consultation Hub with a short survey to gather feedback throughout the spring term. We would welcome your feedback on the Area SEND Strategy. The closing date will be 28 February 2019.

In April, the updated Strategy will be published including the action plan for delivering on the priorities.

2. Norfolk County Council is to invest £120 million

This significant investment will enable us to:

• Build up to four new schools for children with special educational needs and disabilities
• Provide an extra 170 places in specialist resource bases (hosted by mainstream schools)
• Support and challenge mainstream schools to improve inclusion opportunities
• Reduce the travel time for children and young people who need to travel to their school placement

These developments will be implemented through a SEND Transformation programme of work.

All the organisations that have helped to create our Area SEND Strategy priorities will work together to implement all these changes.

The focus of this programme of work will be:

• Building projects for the first three new special schools and 170 specialist resource base places
• Improving and expanding current special schools
• Helping mainstream schools to meet more children's needs locally
• Reviewing how we currently spend the £80 million for SEND in in Norfolk, within the 'High Needs Block', to ensure that we can live within our means and target support where it is needed most and with education providers who are Good and Outstanding
• Invest in our staff who carry out educational psychology, specialist teacher and Education, Health and Care needs assessments; reducing the time we take to carry out these assessments and improving our communication with families and professionals about assessment progress and outcomes
• Working with mainstream schools to support and challenge them to provide the best possible inclusion education for their local children
• Ensuring that for children and young people who require 'alternative education', this is provided promptly, reducing exclusions and supporting re-integration back to mainstream school

Chris Snudden
Assistant Director Children's Services, Education